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Filmcamera

The affordable and easy-to-use Kodak Brownie-series came out in 1900. The models that followed became many people’s first still camera, like star photographer Slim Aarons. This film version, for 8-millimetrefilm, came 1955. The last in the series came 1986.

All the catalogues

The company

In 1918, 23-year old Clas Ohlson started a mail order company in Insjön. He named the company after himself. After all, it had worked for his cousins who had started nation-wide retailer Åhlens a few years earlier. Much has happened since then.

Sink stop

Lighter

The flint-like alloy-metal surface was invented in 1903, and soon the safety match had stiff competition from the spark igniter. Over time, the igniters got smaller – and more beautiful. (From the catalogue 1933.)

Dynamo

From when bicycles first were equipped with oil lamps in 1876, until the arrival of the dynamo-driven bike light, only twelve years passed. Thanks to the magic of magnetism, evening bicycling got a lot safer.

The Clas Ohlson Story

With continued growth since 1918, Clas Ohlson has always had a dynamic and expanding organization. Read more about company's development, about new offices and distribution centers that were always needed as the organization grew. Read more

Starting with educational textbooks and drawings, the product catagories that Clas Ohlson offered to its customers quickly grew. Soon Clas Ohlson became everyone's go-to-place for finding the latest and most practical ways to solve our everyday dilemmas. Read more

Many profiles have left their mark in the annals of Clas Ohlson. Between founder Clas and today's CEO Lotta have passed almost exactly 100 years. In between are all the people that have made Clas Ohlson what it is today. Meet the customers, the coworkers and the suppliers who have built Clas Ohlson over a century's time. Read more

Read Johan Pella’s book about the company, Insjön and Clas Ohlson.

Pod from history buffs Blå Hästen

Listen to the history of gadgets in the podcast Beloved Gadgets.

Share YOUR story

Do you have a Clas Ohlson-story of your own? We’d love to hear from you. Short memories, long stories, letters, images… And if you have historical material about Clas Ohlson that you’d like to share, please contact the Clas Ohlson Museum in Insjön.